Microsoft is partnering with Oculus to supply an Xbox One controller with every Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Oculus will ship the controllers as part of its headset launch in early 2016, with the recently announced Xbox wireless adapter. Xbox chief Phil Spencer revealed the partnership on stage at Oculus' E3 press event today. "We believe we’ll be able to create state of the art virtual reality experiences with the Oculus Rift on top of Windows," says Spencer. The Oculus Rift will work natively on Windows 10, and Spencer revealed Microsoft will allow Xbox One games to stream to the headset as part of the virtual cinema experience Oculus has created.

While the Xbox One controller will ship as part of the Oculus Rift headset bundle, the wireless element will require Windows 10, as Microsoft's adapter is only officially supported on its new OS. Microsoft's backing of Oculus could be seen as unusual given its HoloLens work, but it's clear the software maker wants to support accessories for gaming on its Windows platform no matter what.